Meat
by chihana
Summary: AU: batboys in the zombie apocalypse. Warnings: character death and potential development of romantic pairings, including slash
1. Prologue

**AU. Batman doesn't exist; Bruce Wayne and his family have a normal life, and then there are zombies. That's it, basically.**

**I own nothing.**

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It was a nice day. Cloudy, as always, but it wouldn't rain. The Manor gardens looked beautiful; spring was coming and some flowers were already blooming. Alfred had managed to make his stubborn master stay and have breakfast with his youngest son, instead of running off to work as usual. Alfred might do some gardening after taking Damian to school and finishing the chores. The morning was nice, Bruce and Damian were even making some light conversation about the morning news...

Then a special report appeared on the channel.

"There has been an epidemic outbreak all over the US last night. The virus seems to alter human behaviour, and there have been riots in most major cities. The Police are working to keep the situation under control. It's not advisable to go outside unless necessary, but the Government assures that soon everything will go back to normal"

The reporter tried to sound calm and collected, but accompanying the message there were images of the riots. They didn't looked like something that would "go back to normal" just like that. This wasn't your usual glass-breaker car-burning mob. Instead of destroying stuff and gathering supplies to defend themselves from the virus, they were all attacking people. Even from the helicopter that was recording the images, everything looked rather... bloody for it to be your usual, everyday riot. And how could something like this be caused by an epidemic, of all the things.

Alfred started questioning if it was advisable for Damian to saw such images -no matter his behaviour he was still only ten. And the producers seemed to think something along those lines: the images disappeared from the screen even before the reported had finished talking. Then the program from before came back like nothing had happened.

Nobody said anything for a minute. Bruce's oldest son, Dick, worked for the GCPD and lived in a flat in Gotham since last year. Even if the images didn't show Gotham streets, if what the reporter said was true then things didn't looked good for him. At all.

Bruce left a voicemail for WE saying that he wouldn't show up for work that day, and then Alfred had to convince him that trying to go and check on Dick would be a rather unwise decision.

"Master Bruce, no matter what the situation in Gotham is, Master Dick can protect himself and you wouldn't be of any help there. He wouldn't want you to endanger yourself"

Damian didn't seemed to be bothered at all about missing school, but they all were pretty worried, and kept watching the news without a word. Time passed by, and after two more Special Reports with more details about the reigning chaos that were far from uplifting, Alfred finally heard the sound of a car approaching the front door. A minute later Dick was in front of them, rambling about hordes of zombies and the apocalypse.

"Dad you should have seen it, those people... no people, they were monsters! I saw this old man trying to eat an arm, and then the bus crashed, and..." Alfred looked at him. Dick didn't looked good; his uniform was full of dirt and blood, and he had an ugly looking bruise in the jaw, but there didn't seemed to be any major injuries... "...I was finishing my shift, and they called everybody and told something about a fire near the hospital, but the car..."

Nobody had moved and Bruce finally stood up and interrupted him "Dick, please calm down." With that, Dick stopped talking and looked around like he had just realized that he was in the Manor. "Are you injured? Pennyworth..." and before he could finish that sentence his son hugged him. Then he tried to do the same with Damian, who looked pretty distressed at the perspective and snapped "Richard, you look terrible, and your clothes are dirty, do not touch me!"

After some struggling, Alfred managed to make Dick sit down and explain the situation as calmly as he could. Dick insisted that people in the riots were like monsters. He said that when the Army arrived, they told everybody to go back home, but things weren't looking any better as he left.

As he finished his explanation, the butler looked at Bruce and immediately realized which would be his decision. No matter what the situation in Gotham was, after spending the whole morning worrying about his eldest, the man's priorities were clear.

"Shall I start locking the doors, Master Bruce?"

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**So, this is my first writing anything in this fandom. Or in this language. Or anything serious at all. Also how do you choose titles.  
**

**It took a lot of work and I know it probaly sucks but, R&R? Even if you only say that it's boring or that I broke some guideline (I read them all but you never know), so please? And I'll love you forever?**


	2. Enter Tim

**Whoah so I didn't expected the prologue to have any review, thank you everybody! ^^  
**

**I had finished this chapter a while ago and only needed to clean it up a bit, next ones will take more time, and finals are coming but yeah, here it is. People who asked about Tim and Jason, yes they are fine (by now :'D) **

**I own nothing**

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A whole week had passed since the outbreak, and nobody had dared to leave the Manor yet. They hadn't seen any zombies around, but the phones didn't worked and TV signal was intermittent. The news broadcast said that the Army hadn't managed to stabilize the situation yet, but the infection seemed to be way less spread at the south of the country. Because of this, tons of people had left the cities and traveled south, and the chaos had reached all the main roads. Another more reason to avoid leaving the mansion for as long as they could.

But Dick really wanted to take a look around the city. After all, he was a police officer, his duty was to protect the city, and even if the Army had told them all to go away he should check on his apartment. And the neighbors. And the nearby shops. And.

Yes, he really should go. It wouldn't take too long.

* * *

Anyways, it was dangerous to go and he knew Bruce wouldn't approve, so without telling anybody Dick got into his car -still in the place where he left it a week ago- and left for the city.

As the car approached the buildings, he started seeing the effects of the havoc; some vehicles were parked in the middle of the streets without any order, and the only one or two people wandering in the streets ran away as the car got closer. Dick had no intention of reaching the center of the city, after what he had seen there last time he was there. There were no zombies around and he wanted to keep it that way, so he drove toward his old flat and decided that he could retrieve some of his belongings and leave. The state of the city was creeping him out more than he'd like to admit.

Reaching the apartment block, relief washes over him after finding it pretty much intact. No signs of fight anywhere around, it was possible that most of the neighbors were safe. Seeing as he entered that there was nothing but silence inside, they must had left the city.

Climbing the stairs without any light was more difficult than he anticipated; the Manor still had electricity but they had their own generator that Alfred would take care of, but obviously that wasn't the situation in most of the city. The darkness itself wasn't too scary, it contributed to the sense of emptiness of the whole building, and Dick was completely sure that he was alone. But as he reached the second floor he stumbled with something. Something human shaped.

"AAAAAAAAAAH"

After a moment of panic, Dick could see a short figure crawling away from him. The figure didn't looked like a zombie at all. Too jumpy and scared and now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen any zombie scream.

"Who in the world are you and what are you doing here?"

This made the figure look up, and Dick realized that it was a teenager, a pretty scrawny one by the way, with dark hair and blue eyes -and Dick knew that he had seen the boy somewhere before, but his heart was still racing and he wasn't in the mood to think too much about anything not related to his immediate safety.

"My name is Tim Drake, sir", and after hearing that boy Dick realized; the Drakes were one of those good, wealthy families that Bruce knew, and he had seen their young heir in more than one Christmas party. But how had Tim ended up in front on his flat and by his own, that was something completely beyond him.

The boy looked pretty scared, and Dick bent down and smiled to him. "Hey Tim, I'm Dick, Bruce Wayne's son, don't you remember me?" Tim squinted his eyes and seemed to recognize him, because he relaxed and stopped shivering. Well, he still shivered, but a lot less that he had been. The boy's week had been clearly worse that Dick's.

"So Tim, care to tell me how did you arrived here?"

An hour later, the two of them were sitting in Dick's living room, and Tim had opened to him pretty fast, obviously missing a normal conversation. Tim's parents were abroad when the initial outbreak happened, and he had been unable to communicate with them since then; there was enough food in his house for some days, but as the week was ending he found himself without enough supplies and decided to go exploring. Fortunately, he had decided to go on his bike, because his neighborhood was not as peaceful as Dick's at the moment, and he found some groups of zombies in the way there.

At that point Tim stopped talking for a moment, and Dick realized how terrifying must had been for the boy; after spending a whole week hiding in his house, the first thing he had seen in the streets were those creatures. Tim was still staring at the floor and Dick took a decision.

"Ok Tim, I've just realized that it's getting late, and I want to hear your story but my family must be worried" he started saying, and Tim looked at him like he had said_ I have killed your whole family and you are next_. "Don't give me that look! I was saying that you should keep telling me all that in the car in the way home."

Dick had thought that those blue eyes couldn't look more puppy like. He was wrong.

"Can I go with you, too?"

"Of course! In fact, I wouldn't let you here alone even if you asked"

"But..."

"No buts, let me pick some stuff and we are leaving."

With that, Tim even smiled a bit. Dick was sure he had taken the right decision, and in less than ten minutes both were heading back to the Manor.

* * *

Alfred hadn't been too busy all that week, not getting out from the Manor and all that, but even so he realized that he hadn't been paying the garden any attention at all. And since there was no immediate threat of zombies attacking, maybe he'd take a look at the roses. Zombie apocalypse or not, the weather had been excellent but some watering was in order.

That way, he was outside at the moment when Dick and Tim arrived at the Manor; being at the back of the building they didn't noticed each other. While the two boys rushed indoors, Alfred keeped taking care of the garden. It was quite sunny, and everything was calm around him, so he relaxed and approached some bushes. His hearing had gotten progressively worse with the years, but suddenly he noticed the distinct sound of several bodies, moving somewhere behind him.

Turning around, his heart stopped for a moment at the sight of the creatures that surrounded him. The decaying meat was a hideous sight, and they were way closer that the sound had made it seem. If it wasn't for the breeze, the smell would have given them away way sooner. Alfred understood Dick's panicked state when he arrived to the Manor right after the outbreak: the rotting corpses that were closing on him at that moment wasn't something he'd be ever able to forget. Though he didn't had a lot of time left. Surely Bruce would be able to take care after himself and his sons.

The butler sighed. He shouldn't had went outside that morning. The flowers were going to get ruined anyways.

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**I repeat what I said before: this is my first fic, my English is terrible, I only wanted to practice writing, and I'm deeply sorry about this. I love everybody who reads this ;v;  
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	3. Goodbye Gotham

**Finals start soon so I don't have a lot of time for writing. Still I've been slacking, I could have finished this sooner :'D**

**I'm going to try and write a chapter every week from now on. Completely missed the deadline this week, sorry. I had problems with the language, the scenery and the characterization, ok I'm just a bad writer. It sucks anyways but, here is is. Did my best.**

**So, forward with the second chapter!**

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Surprisingly enough, the first person who received them at their arrival was Damian.

"What were you thinking, Richard, leaving without telling anybody!" he aproached the car with long strides just as Dick stopped the engine. "You are a moron, Father is going to take your keys, and Pennyworth was worrying so much, and I had to stay indoors with them watching me and it is all your fault!"

Dick smiled apologetically and exited the car at the same time that Tim. Damian hadn't noticed his presence. As soon as he did, he stopped walking and frowned.

"Who is t-"

Bruce entered the garage and Dick interrupted Damian. "Dad!"

His father stopped in front of him, anger mixed with relief, and Dick was still wearing the same smile. Tim stood in front of the car awkwardly. After a moment, Bruce said "Don't ever do that again" and turned his gaze to Tim, finishing Damian's question. "Who are you?"

"I'm Tim Drake, Mr Wayne." and the boy stared right back at him. Bruce seemed to recognice, and echanging another gaze with Dick -who was still smiling- he nodded and walked towards Tim.

"Nice to meet you, Tim. Welcome to our house. I haven't seen you family since last Christmas, how are they?"

Dick flinched at hearing the tactless question, and now Tim smile seemed a bit strained, but before he could answer Damian interrupted them.

"'Welcome, Father? You can not accept him here!" Bruce frowned down to Damian, but that didn't deterred the kid. "He has been out in Gotham, he could turn all zombie on us at any given moment!"

"Damian! The Drakes are family friends, and any person in need is welcome in this household, specially given the current situation!"

Tim watched the argument in silent, but Dick was distracted by some muffled sounds that came from outside the garage.

"Bruce, where is Alfred?" he asked. He had to repeat the question twice before his father answered.

"Alfred said that he would take a look around the gardens, he should arrive any minute soon"

But a moment after the four of them fell silent and heard a loud thump. It came from behind the closed door.

"Alfred? Is that you?" Dick asked, but Bruce stopped him before he reached the door. Tim's eyes were wide open.

"The zombies have been shifting more around the city since people started leaving, they must have arrived here already!"

As an answer, there was another thump outside the door, followed by a scratching sound and a guttural noise. They paled.

"I'm not the only one who heard that right?" Tim asked.

Bruce, without a word, directed them all towards a Hummer parked near the garage door. There was no sound coming from the other side there.

"Get inside, hurry!"

Dick wanted to talk back, to say that he wouldn't leave without Alfred, that maybe they were jumping to conclusions and there were no zombies out there. But maybe Bruce noticed his intentions, because before Dick could even open his mouth he was being pushed inside the vehicle. Just as the garage doors opened there was a louder thump and part of the door to the Manor broke.

As they left, they could see a rotten, clearly undead body trying to pass through the remains of the door.

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After twenty minutes driving, Bruce discovered that letting Damian and Tim be together in the back wasn't his brightest idea. They hadn't stopped with the insults and snappy remarks since they lost Gotham, and things were getting worse with each minute that passed. Dick's personality wouldn't help balance the situation, because he hadn't said a single word since he discovered Alfred disappearance.

Another problem, though less urgent, was their lack of supplies. They'd need to go out and search for food and water pretty soon, and their only weapon was Dick's gun. He was avoiding the main roads, so there wasn't anyone around, but it could still be dangerous to go exploring alone.

Finally, when it seemed that the boys were about to start fighting, a gas station came to view.

"Boys, we are going to make a stop here" he told them, silencing everybody instantly. "Dick, you and Damian will stay here with the pistol. Tim will come and search for supplies with me."

Damian started complaining about having to stay in the car. But both Tim and him were glad to get away from each other, and Bruce and Tim left soon.

Half and hour later, they still hadn't returned.

"Richard, where could they possibly be?"

"..."

"Richard, what is taking them so long?"

"Don't worry Damian, they'll be fine"

"Richard, we should go for them"

"You absolutely can't, Dad didn't wanted you to leave and specially not on your own"

"That is a retarded idea, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, I do not need you to babysit me!" Dick felt a headache forming.

Both of them were sitting in the back of the truck looking at the building. It was a pretty big gas station, and it had been closed for at least 10 years. There was moss in the walls, and the metal parts were all rusty. Dick hoped that they'd find some canned food or at least a water source. They had a lot of food in the Manor, Alfred had always taken care of that. But Alfred had always taken care of everything. Damian interrupted that train of thought, again.

"Richard, I need to go to the bathroom" Dick looked at him for a moment before reacting.

"You can do it here"

Damian looked at him as if he had lost his mind.

"What? I'm NOT going to do such a thing in the open! If you are so determined to not letting me go anywhere alone, then come with me. You can guard the door" and without another word he left the truck.

Dick took a look at his surroundings, and after making sure that the pistol was loaded, he run after his brother.

They arrived to the worst looking bathroom Dick had ever seen (and he had seen quite a bit in his work), and Damian ordered him to wait outside. Dick decided that he really didn't wanted to keep arguing with him so he took a seat and waited.

Inside, Damian looked at the bathroom. It was really dark, the single light bulb was broken and the windows were so stained that barely any light would come past them. The boy regretted instantly not listening to Dick, but he couldn't go back now.

He walked to the last stall and realized that there was another door to the bathroom in the opposite wall. And that the door was opening.

Dick heard his brother screaming right before the shot.

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**I don't know how all the chapters end up being so long. Thanks to the lovely Brokenseal for helping me, YOU ARE THE BEST I LOVE YOU, and to all the people who reads this!  
**


	4. Jason

**Completely missed my suggested deadline here. Finals month, and I'm a slow writer. Sorry OTL**

**Important announcement: this chapter might contain something that might be considered as slash. Ok let me rephrase that: this whole story was planned as JayTim. I should probably had said that before. But since it has taken 3 chapters for Jason to appear... Well I didn't know what to do.**

**Again, thanks for all the reviews, love you all 3**

**First time writting Jason, probably awful but I did my best.  
**

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Jason's motorcycle had stopped working ten minutes ago, and no matter where he looked he couldn't find what the problem was.

"Just fucking great" he cursed under his breath. He was in the middle of absolutely nowhere, the only thing he knew is that he was south of Gotham in some random secondary road, and completely lost. He had spent the last week gathering supplies in order to leave the city, and look at how useful it was. What a waste of time.

After taking a look at the engine one last time, Jason finally decided to leave it there. Taking his backpack and shotgun with him, he started walking, hiding everytime he heard a noise. The only moving thing he saw though, was a Hummer that raced past him without noticing his presence.

It seemed that the road was as unknown to the criminals they had talked about on the news, just as it was for him.

After a while, Jason reached what it seemed to be an abandoned gas station, thinking maybe he could stop there for the night instead of walking. After all he didn't think he'd find a better place to rest before sunset, and he sure as hell didn't want to keep walking alone on that road all night.

Approaching the closest building with the shotgun prepared, he noticed something human-looking standing in the doorway. With those weird movements and the awful smell, and after a week in the hellhole that Gotham had become, Jason had no trouble recognizing the zombie.

Then he heard a kid screaming inside the building. Without thinking it twice he shot the creature's head off and ran inside.

As he crossed the entrance he realized that he was inside a bathroom. Another man entered at the same time yelling "Damian!" as pointed his gun at him, and in return Jason pointed his shotgun back at him. It was difficult to see in the dark, but it seemed that there were no more zombies around, only a kid -supossedly Damian- staring wide eyed at the rests of the zombie in front of Jason, the other man and him.

After a short moment, the other man talked.

"Did you shoot the zombie?"

"No, his head exploded from thinking too hard, what do you think?" Jason snarled. "I saved your brat, are you seriously going to shoot me?"

The man finally lowered his gun and approached them. Jason noticed that he was pretty young, the kid wasn't probably his son after all.

"Damian, are you alright?" he asked. The kid blinked and looked away from the corpse, still looking kind of shocked.

"Yes, I am fine. The... thing did not attack me." Then he looked at Jason, who lowered his weapon too and stared back. "He saved me."

With that the older man seemed to relax and hugged the boy, muttering something. Jason stood there awkwardly for a moment before clearing his throat.

The other man then stood up and gave him a sunny smile.

"Thank you! You saved my brother, man I was so scared for a moment!" Jason was a bit shocked the sudden change, but the man kept talking without noticing. "I'm Dick and this is my little brother, Damian!"

Snickering internally at the name, Jason weighed his options. The so called Dick seemed to be a nice guy, though a bit creepy, and hey, the both of them had arrived to the station somehow. And just by looking at them Jason could see that it hadn't been walking, they were way more refreshed that him. Maybe he wouldn't have to spend the night in any of those creepy buildings after all.

"Name's Jason, nice to meet ya."

* * *

When the three of them arrived, Jason had to do a double take. Yeah, that was totally the Hummer that had passed him an hour ago. He was so amused by this fact that he almost didn't notice the two figures standing in front of the car. As soon as the others noticed their presence they started walking towards them.

"We came back as soon as we heard the scream, what in the world were you thinking? I told you to stay here! Damian, are you alright?"

The older one had a deep voice and imposing features. Jason's first impulse was to take a step back at the angry tone the taller man was using at the moment, and realized that the man looked familiar.

"Yea dad, but don't worry, we are all perfectly fine." Dick beamed back at him, unfazed by his father's glare. "Look, this is Jason, he is a great guy, he blew the zombie head off-"

As the older men talked, Jason noticed another person looking at him. The boy had just stepped from behind Bruce and, damn, those eyes sure were pretty.

"Hey gorgeous, what's your name?" Jason asked, approaching the boy smiling while the boy frowned, reminded Jason of a squirrel. Cute.

"I'm Tim. What do you want?" he answered, eyeing Jason suspiciously. Jason smile got even wider.

"Hey, no need to be like that, I only wanted to see that pretty face better" he replied, bending down so the two of them would be at the same height -the kid wasn't short, but Jason was quite tall... and more important than that, it gave him an excuse to get closer. "My name is Jason by the way."

Tim crossed his arms over his chest and seemed to be about to reply, when they realized that the conversation between Dick and the older man had finished. Jason heard someone clearing his throat behind him. When he turned around, he found himself face to face with the older man who seemed to be the boy's father. Who at the moment was pretty much glaring at him.

"My name is Bruce Wayne" he said. Jason could feel the friendliness he emited.

And he realized that he did indeed know the man, Bruce Wayne was on TV a minimum of 3 times every week. The only reason he could give for not recognizing the man faster was that he seemed way more imposing in person that Jason would have ever thought.

Still, Jason wasn't one to be intimidated by a socialite.

"It's a pleasure Mr Wayne. I'm Jason"; he smiled offering his hand while the other man didn't shake it, instead, he continued to eye Jason suspiciously. Maybe he had heard the conversation between Tim and himself, maybe Tim was his son, maybe he was going to get skinned alive now. He chastised himself for not being able think straight when he saw a pretty face.

That train of thought got interrupted when Bruce seemed to change his mind and finally shook his hand, startling Jason. "Thanks for saving my son, Jason" and the friendly smile he received was even more terrifying that the glare from before.

"He seems to be a great guy dad," Dick interrupted them, and his too happy state seemed way less creepy to Jason now "and his bike broke down, he should come with us!"

Bruce then looked at the younger boys, none of them seemed adverse to the idea of Jason joining them, and for all Jason knew, the only armed person in the family was Dick and as long as they didn't knock him out to take his shotgun away and/or leave him to be eaten, Jason needed the transport, and if he could spend more time with Tim, well he wasn't going to object to that. Even if that meant being reduced to ashes under Wayne's glare.

It would be an interesting trip.

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**Well, that was it. I'm sorry.**

**I want to thank all the people who helped me with this chapter: cleromancy and babybirdblues for the characterization, and all the people who encouraged me to keep writting. How did this take so long if you had so much help you might be wondering now. I don't know either.**

**And of course, thanks to brokenseal who did the beta and helped me with everything I love you Aribaby you are the best 3**


	5. Road trip

**I haven't updated in ages. I'm so sorry OTL**

**I know how I want to continue this fic, but I don't know how to link it to what I already have writen, so alas, short chapter to prove I haven't forgotten this. Take this as some kind of intermission o3o**

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Tim slumped further into his seat -at least, his portion of the seat. He had once thought that sharing his seat with the crazy kid Damian was bad, but now he found himself missing it. To his right was Dick -and he was nice and Tim trusted him, but trust didn't mean he was willing to become a pillow for the man. Dick snored. It's not that Tim expected to get a lot of sleep, not with Jason to his left and intent on dragging him into a conversation.

It's true that Dick was asleep and that both Bruce and Damian were grumpy and sitting in the front so it would be difficult to talk with them. Still, it had been a long day, how could someone be so annoying?

He couldn't believe the Wayne family accepting Jason just like that. They didn't even know his family name. At least time had met Bruce and Dick once or twice beforehand. He knew a lot about them, although he'd never admit reading those kinds or magazines. He wasn't interested in that kind of thing. Really. And he didn't collected pics of anybody.

But Jason? It simply made no sense. He was handsome, sure, at least if you like that kind of guy.

He was also invading Tim's personal space.

Then again, so was Dick. Tim was starting to feel sticky from the sweat, and suddenly remembered that he hadn't changed his clothes in 3 days.

Tim sighed. He felt mean about what he was about to do, but it was a necessary evil. Shame, Dick looked so happy when he was asleep... Tim then remembered that Dick always looked happy. So.

Dick woke up with a yelp. After looking around ad remembering when he was, his stomach growled.

"I forgot completely about the food. Did you get something, dad?"

Bruce ignored him.

"Tim?"

Tim sighed.

"No, there was nothing. It was an old gas station what did you expect us to find?"

"So we have nothing to eat?"

"Exactly."

"Well, I wouldn't mind eating you." Jason interrupted them.

Startled, Tim turned his head around and saw Jason's leer. Some bruises later, Dick was in the middle seat, Jason was bleeding a bit and Damian had woken up.

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**Thanks to Brokenseal and Fweeble for helping me with this chapter! ovo  
**


	6. It's dark out there

**Look, I'm updating \o/ I didn't give up this story, you'll see. I'm sorry this is still so short, and unbetaed but hey I managed to edit it on my won it could be worse! Anyways hope you'll enjoy! Thanks Winterysomnium for her help!**

**Does anybody read my babbling here?**

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Tim woke up when Bruce announced that they were arriving to a town. Startled, he looked out of the window. He must had been sleeping for longer that he had intended since it was sunset already. There were no lights in the town and he could only see the silhouette of the buildings cut against the orange sky. It wasn't a calming sight in the slightest. He shivered and got closer to Dick.

"There_ has _to be zombies here, you guys sure you want to stop here at night?" Jason's window was rolled down and he was staring intently at the empty streets.

"We need to get more gas for the car, and food." Bruce was driving like he knew where were they going.

"We could park outside and wait for dawn. Can't you stay without eating for-" Jason stopped himself midsentence and went back to looking outside. Tim didn't like how the town looked, but given that it was pretty much a ghost town now it was to be expected. Damian was grumbling something in the front seat and Dick was blinking owlishly, half asleep. Tim rolled down his window and looked outside. The car was moving slowly, and besides the sound of the tires in the asphalt there wasn't a single noise. Tim could smell rain and wet earth.

After some minutes they reached what seemed to have been a supermarket and Bruce stopped the car.

"This store hasn't been vandalized, people must have left the town before the zombies appeared." Tim squinted and looked at the front of the store. Indeed, it seemed like it had just closed for the night instead of suffered through an apocalypsis. Still it made Tim's skin prickle.

"Dad?" Dick got closer to Jason and looked at the store. "Do you seriously pretend us to go there?"

"We need to get food and this seems like a good place."

Bruce stopped the engine and opened the driver's door. Tim was hungry, alright, but looking at the darkness inside the glass doors -the only direct light now being the car's lights- he preferred to slump further into his seat rather than go inside and look for food. The sky was dark now, it had been cloudy before, and no moonlight would come through. Tim tried to look at the streets around the car, but his eyes couldn't get used to the dark. Even if the lights would alert everybody of the car's position, Tim still felt more secure there than out in the dark.

Jason cursed under his breath but he got out of the car, the shotgun still in his hand. The rest followed suit, Tim completely against his will, and as they stood up on front of the doors he noticed three things. First, the metal blinds weren't down, so vandalism or not, something had happened there to make the owners leave like that. Second, nobody had flashlights. Third, something horrible was probably going to happen. Alright so the third one wasn't something he had just noticed, but he felt that it was important to point it out.

Dick seemed to notice at least the second thing, because he returned to the car and grabbed... his phone? Seriously? Tim resisted the impulse to roll his eyes. It was better than just using the car lights, but wasting batteries like that... Bruce stared at Dick for a second and said nothing, signaling for the door instead. Tim guessed that there didn't had any flashlights. With a bit of luck they'll find some inside.

When Jason grabbed the door handle Tim saw that it wasn't even locked.

"Wait." Tim stopped them before they got inside. "This is a really bad idea."

"What?" Jason looked at him like he was crazy. "This place is completely empty and we need food."

"Have you never watched a zombie movie?"

Jason rolled his eyes. "We could go back in the morning alright but now that we are here it's a waste of time and gas. You could have helped me when I suggested that ten minutes ago anyways."

Everybody turned around to look at Tim now, giving their back at the open door. Tim stood there, looking inside and not knowing what to say. Maybe he should have supported Jason, but the older man intimidated him. Jason tapped his shotgun against the door, startling Tim. "You can stay here if you want, but I'm going inside."

Dick looked at them both and sighed. "Tim, Jason is right. We can't go back now." He passed Bruce his gun. "Let's go, the faster we finish the sooner we can leave." They all went inside, Dick staying the last. He ruffled Tim's hair before going in and smiled reassuringly. Tim sighed in defeat.

"At least don't divide to explore."

Dick chuckled. "Sure, Timmy. See you." And he got inside after the others.

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**DUN DUN DUN**

**Ok sorry ;3; I'll update as soon as possible. Bye!**


	7. Shopping Spree

Betaed by iamjasonssmirkingrevenge

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Jason had actually been expecting a bit of chaos inside the store - food on the floor, broken windows, lack of basic supplies - but there was nothing like that. Everything stood in perfect order, like the store had just closed for the night. He wasn't able to determine if this was good or bad. Because yes, it might mean that everybody had evacuated and the infection never reached the town. But there were cans of food right in front of them, hell, even flashlights and batteries, right where the cash registers were, undisturbed. Unless everybody in the town already had a fully stocked underground shelter, why didn't they get supplies before leaving?

While the others grabbed cans of food, he opened a couple of packages and tossed one flashlight to Damian. The kid snarled at him, but he caught it and turned it on. Jason grabbed one for himself. He had picked one up for Tim, too - he couldn't stop thinking about having left him outside - and looked around the shelves and to the pile Bruce and Dick were making on the floor.

"We'll need water, too," he muttered to himself. "Hey, guys, I'm heading to the back."

Dick looked up at him and then glanced at the aisle Jason's flashlight was pointing to. He frowned. Clearly, he didn't like the situation any more than Jason did, but he knew that they needed the supplies too, and the sooner the better. Bruce didn't even lift his head.

"All right, be careful."

Jason lifted his arm to wave but ended up deciding against it. He rolled his shoulders, straightened himself up, and started walking.

The murmur and noises from the others died out quite soon. It seemed to Jason like the darkness was swallowing him. The lights from the car barely illuminated the packages on the shelves, and soon the only light was the one from his flashlight. He was already missing the others. He felt like an idiot; it was just getting water, and it was faster if he went alone. Still, he was regretting going back there alone. He couldn't return empty handed, though, and he wasn't going to ask anybody to walk with him like he was some kind of scared boy. Over his dead body. Which, might be quite soon, considering. Was that someone breathing? He repressed a shiver.

He looked around the shelves - nothing but cake mixes and sugar. The water had to be in the back. Why did it have to be in the back? Goddammit. He couldn't use his shotgun while carrying the flashlight, but at least he could hit somebody - something - with it.

Jason jumped back when he saw something shine in front of him. He had reached the end of the store. It was just the reflection of the light in the water. He let out a shaky breath and put the flashlight between his teeth. He was determined to get enough water for everybody for a couple of days at least. With a grunt, he grabbed all the bottles he could lift, and juggled them for a minute. He had to put the flashlight in his belt, but better to see the floor than leave himself defenseless. He'd swear he could still hear someone breathing, though, and now he could feel it on his back.

Damian didn't know why were they all so worried. He'd seen a lot of situations like this in his video games. The good guys always got out safely, and they were clearly the good guys. Even Drake, because Dick trusted him and Damian trusted his brother, even if he would never tell him that. Jason had saved him, too. Everything would be all right. Damian glanced up at the glass doors at the front of the store and saw Drake's silhouette against the lights. Nothing surprising there. Soon Jason would be back with the water and they could leave.

Dick opened the doors and starting passing Drake the cans they had picked up. Just as Damian started walking over to help, he heard a dull thump from the back of the store. He walked back there, shining his flashlight down the aisle.

"Jason, are you there?"

As the words left his mouth, Damian suddenly remembered that Pennyworth had been a good guy too, and he wasn't with them anymore. He looked back at his father, suddenly insecure about the whole situation. Bruce was soon in front of Damian, shielding him with his body.

"Jason?"

Bruce's deeper voice echoed, and this time they got a response.

"Run!"

Jason was running towards them, holding a couple of bottles of water in one arm and the shotgun in the other. There was nothing behind him, but when he reached them, Damian recognized that oddly sweet smell clinging to his clothes.

"Get the fuck out of here, they're coming!"

Without a word, Bruce grabbed Damian and dragged him towards the door that Dick was holding open for them.

"To the car, hurry! Go, go, go!"

Tim jumped into the passenger seat, and Damian found himself squished between Dick and Jason in the back seat when the first of the creatures appeared behind the glass doors.

Soon, they left the town behind them. Damian started to relax, and the yelling around him died down. While the lack of panicked screams from Drake was soothing, he remained uneasy. Maybe it was the weight of the water bottles that had been dropped in his lap, or the sound of the liquid whenever the car hit a bump reminding him of the other liquids dripping from those things. He even felt some actual wetness.

Jason leaned forward. "Hey, Tim, here."

Drake looked back at Jason, surprised, and took the flashlight from him. Then Damian noticed the source of the wetness and his unease.

"You're bleeding."

"Eh?" Jason turned to look at him in surprise.

"Bleeding. Your clothes have blood all over them."

Most of Jason's shirt was, indeed, covered in blood, and the stain was slowly spreading to the upholstery and, to Damian's horror, his own clothes. Damian tried to move away, startling Dick, who was practically asleep.

"Who's bleeding?"

Jason stared at them, wide-eyed, and Dick bent over Damian to take a closer look. The silence inside the car didn't seem soothing anymore.

"How exactly did you get hurt, Jay?" Maybe it was Damian's imagination, but Dick's voice sounded strained. "Did you get bitten?"

Bruce hit the brakes, making Jason wince in pain. Over Dick's head, Damian saw Drake's panicked expression, and then everybody started yelling at the same time.


	8. Going nowhere

I wrote this in kind of a hurry yesterday to meet my wordcount. But no, this fic isn't abandoned! I don't think I'll post any new stories to ffnet, it's difficult enough to keep up with tumblr and AO3, but I will finish uploading the current ones. Anyways, hope you guys like it!

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The barn looked worse than Tim had been hoping for when they arrived. The metal planks that formed most of the structure were pretty much rusted and falling apart, and one had to wonder whether or not it'd resist the storm. Tim wasn't sure of where they were, or what the weather would be -who would tell him that on a zombie apocalypse he'd end up missing weather reports?- but the storm was going to be a big one. It had started raining a while ago, and it had only gotten stronger as the night went on.

The others didn't seem as worried as he was about it. In fact, Tim himself shouldn't be as worried, either. Jason might or might not have been bitten by a zombie. He had risked his life trying to get them water, but Tim knew as well as everybody else that if he was infected they'd have to get rid of him.

He didn't like the idea, though. Not at all. How could he? It was easier to just stay there at the entrance, looking at the clouds while the others yelled, than confront the situation. The others as in, Bruce and Jason. Bruce was really intimidating when he was like that, but Jason didn't seem scared -of course, what could be considered scary when your only options were joining the undead of being sacrificed? Jason insisted that nothing had bitten him, that it had been just an accident, while Bruce kept saying that they couldn't take the risk, especially not for someone that they barely knew. The others just stared in silence. Tim didn't like to see the fear and resignation in their faces, so he didn't look. His mind was high over the clouds, wondering how all the people he knew would be faring the situation. If they had to fight against the storm too.

He didn't want to think about the alternative.

After a while, the voices died off, and Tim looked back at his companions. They were all surrounding Jason, who was sitting on the floor grabbing his wound. The car lights were the only light source inside the barn, besides the occasional lightning bolt but even just with that he could notice the blood stains all over the ground of the farm, from the car to their improvised reunion point. Even if Jason didn't become a zombie or got sacrificed, at the current rate he'd die from the blood loss.

It was that realization what pushed Tim to walk over to them after grabbing some first aid stuff from the car. He would tend to Jason's wounds, just in case. Jason had stopped talking altogether and was leaning his head against a pillar, his breathing harsh and labored.

"He's too much of a risk, we can't afford it-" Bruce was glaring at Dick, who seemed to have finally recovered some spirit.

"He saved your son's life and risked his own for us, we aren't paying him like this!"

Tim kneeled next to Jason and looked at the wound, getting no reaction from any of the presents except Damian, who walked closer to them while the rest of his family kept fighting.

"What are you going to do?" he asked, sounding slightly concerned.

"He's going to die if we don't do anything, even if this isn't a zombie bite." Tim started cleaning up the wound, eliciting a soft hiss from Jason that was almost inaudible over the rain and the others' voices. The wound didn't really look like a zombie bite to Tim, but he understood Bruce being worried. It was pretty much a mess, and it might be an ugly cut as well as a ragged bite.

"But he doesn't look infected!"

"It hasn't been that long, it's too much of a-"

Tim kept ignoring the voices and worked on improvising a bandage under Damian's watchful eyes. The kid had brought a flashlight -maybe he was better that Tim had thought at first-, so Tim's work was easier, but Jason was still completely unresponsive and appeared to have passed out. At least he was still breathing. Barely a minute after Tim finished his work he was interrupted by Dick.

"We are going to keep him under watch."

Tim looked up at him, and he was going to protest but Dick's tired expression made him change his mind.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that he'll stay tied up and with somebody looking at him until we can be sure that he's not going to kill us all." Dick glanced at Jason and back at Tim's blood-stained hands. "Is he going to be alright?"

"I hope so," Tim mumbled as Bruce came back and started chaining Jason to the pillar he had been leaning against. Jason mumbled something but allowed him to do it, and for all Tim knew he might have been getting delirious.

"Alright, who's doing the first watch?"


End file.
